𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛 ✔

𝟎𝟔. 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 (𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆)

The next morning, Cara's alarm awakes her in a manner that was annoying.

Who am I kidding? It's always annoying.

Charmaine groaned from the tangled mess that was her bedsheets. "Girl. It's freaking 6:30."

Cara smirked. "Needn't be so hasty, Charmaine." She got out of her bed, and seemingly faster than other mornings. "Besides, Char, it's better early than late."

"Yeah, well, you'd think that it would be better to be on time rather than a millennium early," Charmaine said through gritted teeth, throwing her pillow at Cara.

"Hey, free pillow," Cara remarked, taking it and throwing it onto her bed.

"Hey!"

Cara ignored Charmaine, taking a look at herself in the body mirror next to the closet.

Hey, my skin is getting better!

Cara smiled with glee as she opened her wardrobe, scanning it quickly to find her school uniform. She grabbed the white blouse, the rose-red, forest-green, and royal-gold Roseboro emblem embroidered perfectly on the breast pocket, slipping it on hastily before swiping the matching thigh-length skirt and high-knee socks.

Usually, the students would customize their uniforms in subtle ways to make them slightly more fashionable.

Cara rolled up the sleeves of the long blouse, unbuttoning the stiff collar to the second button to make it slightly more breathable.

She grabbed the black dress jacket that was hanging on her chair, and after clicking on the straps of her pumps firmly (Charmaine was still snoring), Cara grabbed her brush to try and detangle the mess that was her fiery red hair.

Maybe I'll just put it up today, Cara thought, grabbing a scrunchie and twisting her hair into a messy bun. That'll do.

Cara strapped her watch on, and with a final look in the mirror, headed out to the courtyard, slightly shivering from the frigid winter air.

Two seconds later, Cara found herself engulfed in a tight hug. A familiar woody scent entered her nostrils as she returned the favor.

"Tiger! I've missed you."

Cara laughed. "Aiden, it's been approximately eighteen hours, give or take a few, since you last saw me."

Cara looked at him. There was something off about his eyes.

What?

"Aiden? What's wrong?" she asked, frowning as she turned her head to the side in confusion.

"Lucas is gone," he said, tilting his head down to look at me.

"What? What do you mean? He's just-"

"He's gone. He wasn't in his bunk this morning. I've asked every single person who knows him. They haven't heard from him since yesterday night," Aiden explained, the furrow in his brows increasing.

What the-

"Why? What's happening? Are you sure he wasn't in the bathroom, or -"

Ayden cut her off again. "We've checked all the bathrooms on the site. He hasn't been there once. I don't think he was even in his bed yesterday night."

"He might've gotten suspended, or his parents might have called in or something?"

Ayden shook his head. "Headmistress Keyes contacted his parents, and they said that they hadn't contacted him at all since the start of the term."

"What's happening?" said Cara, scratching her sweaty palms. "What if this has to do with what happened with the kidnapping? Lucas is just..gone? I -"

Ayden put his hand on her shoulder, calming her. "It's okay, Cara. We'll figure it out. If it has to do with the kidnapping, we'll know."

Cara took a deep breath. "Okay, yeah. T-Thanks."

"No problem, Tiger. Lucas will be alright, I promise you," Aiden told her. "Now c'mon. L-let's get breakfast?"

Cara took another deep breath and nodded, feigning a smile, although she knew Aiden was smart enough to know that it was fake. She followed Aiden down to the dining hall, where they're serving breakfast

Cara couldn't help but let her mind wander.

What if Lucas' sudden disappearance had to do with whatever was going on with the eczema infliction and the kidnappings?

Cara shivered.

Don't think about it. It'll make it worse.

Cara went up to the line and grabbed a roll with some cantaloupe slices. Then, she scouted the table in the corner and sat down with the usual crew, Aiden, Lucas, and Kix. But Lucas was nowhere to be found.

Unlike other meals, Aiden was quiet throughout. He wasn't make jokes or anything, and in fact, they all were kind of gloomy - Kix especially.

Cara didn't blame him.

Kix is Lucas' cousin.

"Tiger. Tiger? Cara!"

Cara snapped out of her thoughts, and whipped around.

"Cara, it's me."

Cara turned to her right and sighed. Aiden had been talking to her.

She shook her head and unsuccessfully tried to clear her head.

"Sorry, Ayden. I was distracted. What is it?"

"Are you still thinking about Lucas?" said he, looking at Cara intently.

"Yeah." Cara sighed, feeling slightly nauseous. "Here. You can have my roll. I don't feel like eating it."

He picked up her roll, putting it on his plate, but Cara could still feel his eyes looking at her.

As if she knew what he was thinking, she said, "Look, I just don't want to lose Lucas, okay? I mean, I've already lost one person in my family - my dad. And with you guys, it's worse. I know you. I'm worried about Lucas, and you should be too!"

Cara recoiled immediately.

That sounded angry.

But it was true, Cara felt unstrangely annoyed, and also mad. But not Aiden.

At something else, something she wasn't aware of yet.

Aiden put a hand on her shoulder again, and Cara's eyes widen, surprised at how calm he is despite her practically yelling at him two seconds ago. "I know, Tiger. We'll figure it out. Trust me. I just don't want you stressing about it. You have a lot to take care of, like your skin. I just don't want you to have so many things in your head."

Cara sighed and nodded. "You're right. I'm thinking too much."

Aiden was smart. He had lost his mother, when he was ten. Then his father died. Today he's living with his stepmother.

Aiden had lost a lot.

Am I being insensitive to that?